LAKEPORT >> Lake County’s public services department is considering raising the price of the Eastlake Landfill’s fees for the dumping of fire-related debris.
According to department director Lars Ewing, increased revenues are needed to cover the operating costs of managing waste from the Clayton Fire and the reconstruction phase of the 2015 disasters. Together, public services predicts they will fill the Clearlake landfill by an additional 60,000 tons — 34,000 from the Lower Lake blaze alone.
“Our gate fees don’t sustain the operations,” Ewing told the Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting on Tuesday.
County documents indicate that the normal gate fee is about $51. At that rate, the landfill would bring in more than $1.7 million in revenue from the August wildfire.
However, due to staff overtime, further handling requirements and contracted work for special projects, waste management costs were estimated at around $2.2 million — a $500,000 loss for the government-controlled operation.
“We will be handling it, in a sense, twice,” he added. To balance the books, the director suggested the rate be set at $65. The price will be solidified at a later meeting as the supervisors directed staff to create an official ordinance.
The three supervisors in attendance also wanted to make sure public services wasn’t trying to collect money from those who already dumped their fire-related debris or wanting to raise regular garbage collection rates.
“We’re not backtracking and trying to charge now,” Ewing assured District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele, who brought up the concern. He also said they had no plans to increase collection rates for regular collection.
Yet, in looking ahead towards the landfill’s proposed expansion project — which at the height of the Valley Fire Cleanup was expected to cost between $15 to $20 million and is needed by 2023 — the county may also need to restructure fees across the board thanks to other revenue losses and significant costs.
For instance, the contract allowing Mendocino County to dump its waste will sunset at the end of the year, dropping revenue by 33 percent according to Ewing’s memo to the board.
Further exacerbating the issue is state law, which requires the landfill to carry financial assurances for the landfill’s closure, post-closure maintenance costs, corrective action and operating liability. These costs have increased by $9 million since 2011, the memo said. “These issues all point to the need to establish an adequate fee landfill fee structure,” the director added. “In the coming months, this will be accomplished for all waste streams as a part of the expansion design process.”
Meanwhile, the fire-related debris ordinance is expected to be presented to the BOS at one of its later meetings.
Hill Road Correctional Facility Project
Since Supervisors Jeff Smith and Rob Brown were absent, the three-member board decided to delay consideration of giving back the $20 million in state grant money for the Hill Road Correctional Facility expansion project.
The matter was rescheduled for the next regular meeting on Sep. 13.
Brown said he met with the California Office of Emergency Services regarding the Clayton Fire.
